Nickelodeon Stephen Silver Lecture

One of the great things about working at a larger studio like Nickelodeon is the training and classes they have available. (I'm going to be teaching the Maya class soon). This week I got to go to two classes, including a great character design lecture by Stephen Silver. Stephen's designed for some great shows, including the "Clerks" animated series, "Kim Possible", and Nickelodeon's "Danny Phantom" (as well as doing a short special guest stint on our show "Tak". He gave us some great notes, ideas, and let us know what goes through his head when he's drawing and his process.

He also has a couple of great books that people should check out. They're worthy additions to your art book collection.!

"Ice Age 2" review

Saw Ice Age 2. Going in here's how I felt: Didn't love the first one - thought the story was really thin, but it had some great moments of animation. But left the theater feeling "eh" and haven't seen it since. So, I wasn't overly excited about seeing 2, but went nonetheless. And I gotta say... I really liked it. But again, it wasn't for the story. The story was simple - "lets travel from point A to point B". But what they did between those points was make a great cartoon. That's right. Not animated feature, but cartoon. There are some wonderful sequences of pantomime gag character animation that go one for quite some time. Cartoons. Not scripted dialogue - animator driven cartoon stuff. Gags. Really great animation. The story again, was alright, but there are gems of animation that are wonderful. Go see it!

A little somethin' new here...

So, I've been wanting to do some blog re-design for quite some time. Trying out some new stuff that better integrates with the rest of the site. More coming, but I'm still figuring out this CSS stuff...

More Tak news in USA Today

Been meaning to post this here. Tak was mentioned in an article in USA Today, talking about upcoming shows and the multiple screens that now compete for viewers.

THX Trailer Contest

THX is having a contest to create a new trailer for them. I still like the Simpsons episode where they spoofed it and people's heads were exploding in the movie theater. Go with that.

http://www.thx.com/trailerContest/index.html

Article: CG Weakens Classic Drawing Skills

Head over to http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-6058369.html?tag=zdfd.newsfeed for an article on the weakening drawing skills of the industry in favor of computer skills.

Excerpt:
Computer graphics allow artists to move briskly. By contrast, drawing on paper can be frustrating, forcing concentration, introspection and revision as an idea or vision takes shape. The process hones essential skills and sensitivity and personality that make artwork unique, instructors say.

2006 Animated Feature Releases

This list was forwarded to me. Man, there's gonna be an animated feature per month for the rest of the year! (although I haven't hear much about a couple of these... the bold ones are what I'm really looking forward to):

The Wild (April 14)
Over the Hedge (May 19)
Cars (June 9)
Monster House (July 21)
Barnyard (July 28)
Ant Bully (Aug. 4)
Open Season (Sept. 29)
Flushed Away (Nov. 3)
Happy Feet (Nov. 17)
Arthur and the Minimoys (Dec. 25)

The Bay Area is blue and green. Los Angeles is gray and brown.

After I left the Bay Area to move to LA, I couldn't stand it here for quite some time. I can't remember when I really began to accept it. It was more like having your soul crushed into submission rather than seeing it as something good. Not to get to heavy there... ha. But after 9 years we almost moved back before all this stuff at Nickelodeon happened. The best thing by far about LA is the industry opportunities and the people. These are the things I'll miss when we return (most likely now in 2007). Anyway, here's an article I got via an ILM guy about an ILM guy moving down here. And ironically, I had to turn down ILM (only temporarily!) to stay here. But it gives you a glimpse of what it's like to be in LA. A friend summed it up:

The Bay Area is blue and green.
Los Angeles is gray and brown.
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Pre-vis Master David Dozoretz Comes To Terms With L.A.

(MarinIJ) David Dozoretz, who spent 10 years in Marin atGeorge Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic before setting out on his ownin Los Angeles, tells a his story:

"If you walk down the street in L.A. and stop a random person, and youask, 'How's the script coming?' seven out of 10 people have alegitimate answer. Everybody here is in the industry."

That, according to Dozoretz, can be both a blessing and a curse. Hespeaks of trying to ground himself in reality by attempting to spendtime in less movie-crazed portions of the great metropolis to thesouth.

But in the meantime, L.A. is where he needs to be. During his tenureat ILM, Dozoretz became a pioneer in a new digital-storyboardingtechnique just becoming prevalent, especially in effects-heavypictures made by the big L.A.-based studios.

The technique is called pre-visualization, and by hitching his star toit, Dozoretz rose from ILM intern to heavyweight. His ownpre-visualization company recently finished working on "Mission:Impossible 3" and "X-Men 3," but Dozoretz also has plans for directinghis own movie, and both his company and his script required hispresence down south.

"As the owner of a company that does (pre-visualization), I needed togo where my clients were," Dozoretz says. "And even stronger thanthat, I needed to meet with producers, studio executives, and agents(regarding my own project) É and that's all down here in L.A."

The one place I wouldn't live.

Dozoretz wistfully remembers exiting the art department with hisco-workers in time to see the Marin sun set over the trees, thencontrasting this with a Los Angeles he describes as a maze of "gasstations and doughnut shops."

"We would work hours and hours (at the ILM art department) trying tocreate a beautiful image, and then, walking outside, we'd see that Godwould do it in a matter of minutes. In Marin, artists have to rise tothe challenge of living in Marin."

Dozoretz is not the only Marin expatriate who will wax poetic over thebetter connection to nature one can feel in Marin. In L.A., thesefilmmakers say, there are less trees and more billboards.

Back from Hawai'i

Aloha. Just got back from 10 days in Hawai'i, so I'm catching up with the frame by frame digital world. Lots of pics and stories to share, news to spill, etc. But it will have to wait 'til tomorrow. Between the Hawai'i time change and daylight savings time, I'm at negative 3 hours already. Posting back tomorrow. Malaho for your patience!